Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

“The sleeping party”

A woman labeled “Republican Party” sleeps in the background, while members of her court, some dressed as women, also sleep in the foreground. Depicted are Whitelaw Reid, Murat Halstead, Russell Sage, John Roach, Jay Gould, Benjamin F. Butler, James G. Blaine, William H. Vanderbilt, John Logan, Cyrus W. Field, two dogs labeled “Phila. Press” and “Chicago Tribune,” Chester A. Arthur, Rutherford B. Hayes, William W. Phelps, John Sherman, Simon Cameron, George F. Hoar, Alonzo B. Cornell, Stephen W. Dorsey, Thomas J. Brady, William M. Evarts, George M. Robeson, William E. Chandler, and Joseph W. Keifer. Caption: She bungled with the civil-service reform distaff, and she and all her court were condemned to sleep for __ years.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-08-26

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Why they dislike him — he will not prove himself a cat’s-paw in the enterprise

Grover Cleveland is a lion with his paw on a monkey labeled “T. Grady” on top of a rock labeled “Civil Service Reform.” Nearby is a small fire in which are roasting chestnuts labeled “City Spoils, State Spoils, [and] National Spoils Chestnut.” Cleveland is looking over his right shoulder at a group of monkeys in a tree. Among them are John Kelly, Charles A. Dana, Benjamin F. Butler, Henry Ward Beecher, and three monkeys labeled “Dynamiter, Ward Boss, [and] N. Y. Alderman.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-09-03

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The political Courtney

At a boathouse is an exhausted James Gillespie Blaine, suffering from “Guano Gout,” being attended by Jay Gould, Whitelaw Reid, George M. Robeson, William Walter Phelps, and Stephen B. Elkins who is searching a box of patent medicines labeled “Remedy, Record Cleaner, Tariff Fever Cure, R.R. Record Purifier, Tattoo Eradicator, [and] Vermont Reviver (Homoepathic)” for a cure. John A. Logan readies the racing shell labeled “Aggressive Campaign” that may be stuck in “Monopoly Mud,” and Stephen Wallace Dorsey, at the entrance to the boathouse, carries oars labeled “Soap” and [Star] “Router.” Hanging on the wall are shells and oars labeled “Guano Statesmanship, Speaker Ship’s Record Boat, Senatorial Record, [and] Tariff Issue.” Grover Cleveland waits in his racing shell labeled “Reform” and Carl Schurz stands at the entrance to the “Independent Boat House” which is next to the “Democratic Boat House.” In the background is a crowded grandstand. Caption: Logan – “Come, Jim, show some nerve, or nobody won’t believe you’re in the race! Ain’t you never going to be aggressive?”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-09-10

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

“Blaine will be vindicated in November” — N. Y. Tribune

James Gillespie Blaine, dressed like a Roman statesman, stands on a pedestal that states, “What are you going to do about it,” a phrase attributed to Boss Tweed. The ghost of Tweed stands behind Blaine, weeping, holding a paper that states, “Why wasn’t I vindicated? I cast my anchor windward too!!” At the base of the pedestal are books and papers, some labeled, “20 Years Casting My Anchor to Windward,” “Burn this,” and “20 Years No Deadhead.” Whitelaw Reid stands at center, appealing to Blaine. On the left are various bank officers who committed crimes and got caught. Some hold papers that state, “I saw various channels in which I could be useful. President Dodd, Bank Breaker,” “I cast an anchor to windward in the Marine Bank. J. D. Fish, Bank Breaker,” “I would ‘sacrifice a great deal to get a settlement’ Captain Howgate, U. S. A., Defaulter,” “I did not prove a deadhead in the enterprise. A. S. Warner, Albion Bank Breaker,” “I received very large sums of money without one dollar of expense. Ferdinand Ward, Swindler.” Albert S. Warner was President of The First National Bank of Albion; Henry W. Howgate was a Disbursing Officer in the U. S. Signal Service. Caption: Chorus of Non-Magnetic Swindlers – “Why shouldn’t we be vindicated, too? We saw various channels in which we could be useful. We were no deadheads.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-09-24

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Forgotten on purpose

A man labeled “Tax-payer” has fallen on steps labeled “Congress.” He has a large boulder labeled “War Taxes on Iron on Sugar on Cloth Salt Leather [and] Linens” strapped to his back. On the steps is a small stone labeled “Tax Taken Off Patent Medicines, Perfumery, etc.” In the room at the top of the steps, many hands dip into a bowl of coins labeled “River & Harbor Bill.” Caption: “He asked for bread, and they gave him a stone!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-08-09

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The irrepressible log

A bear labeled “N.Y. Democracy” climbs a tree labeled “New York” and “N.Y. State Patronage Hive” to get at the honey. However, a block of wood labeled “Tammany Kelly” suspended by a rope labeled “60,000 voters” keeps getting in the bear’s way. Caption: Democratic Bear “If it wasn’t for that log, I’d have had that honey long ago, and the more I thrust it away the harder it hits me!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-08-16

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The rivals in Ohio

Allen G. Thurman stands on one side of a man labeled “Liquor Interest” and John Sherman on the other side. Thurman represents “The Ohio Democracy is the liquor dealers old friend!!”, while Sherman expresses “Ohio Republicans only wish to regulate the liquor traffic thats all!!” as they try to win the “Large Vote” the man is holding in his right hand.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-06-27

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Put ’em on ice!

Uncle Sam puts politicians, newspaper editors, and others on “Ice” in an icehouse to keep them cool until campaign time for the presidential election. Among those depicted are Ulysses S. Grant, Roscoe Conkling, James G. Blaine, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. Thurman, Samuel J. Randall, George M. Robeson, Samuel J. Tilden, David Davis, John A. Logan, George F. Edmunds, Thomas Bayard, Abram S. Hewitt, Grover Cleveland, Lucius Q.C. Lamar, Daniel W. Voorhees, William Mahone, James D. Cameron, Carl Schurz, Whitelaw Reid, James G. Bennett, John Kelly, Joseph B. Foraker setting off firecrackers attached to the tails of Uncle Sam’s coat, George Hoadly, Henry Watterson, John Sherman, Thomas Hendricks, Henry Ward Beecher, and Stephen W. Dorsey trying to light a stick of dynamite labeled “Bulldozing Threats” beneath Uncle Sam.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-07-04

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

They will have to come to it

James G. Blaine and John Logan stand next to a grave as Whitelaw Reid places a wreath labeled “To the Memory of Discord” on the grave. The tombstone states, “To the Memory of Sectional Strife Buried Nov. 4th 1884.” Caption: This decoration day will give our Blainiac friends a good opportunity to recognize an established fact.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-05-27

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

“Ship-building for repairs”

Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney carries a large book labeled “Navy Yard Investigations,” and confronts George M. Robeson, William E. Chandler, and John Roach, who are cowering at his approach outside the “U.S. Navy Ya[rd] Office.” Whitney is gesturing toward sailing ships that are being repaired, among those identified are “Shenandoah: for Building – $463,866, Repairs – $906,481; Ossipee: for Building – $407,064, for Repairs – $1,197,391; Kearsarge: cost – $286.918, Repairs – $1,123,416; [and] Mohican: Repairs cost $900,000.” Caption: Secretary Whitney – “It seems to me, Gentlemen, that you have been repairing a damaged party out of a decaying navy.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-06-03

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

“Waiting”

A black Labrador retriever labeled “Jack” sits on a life preserver labeled “Re-election to U.S. Senate” on a board propped up against the bank of a lake. Sitting on the shore in the lower right corner is a frog that looks like Benjamin F. Butler. Caption: Mr. Logan’s enthusiastic friends have already nominated him for the presidency – in 1888.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-06-10

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Gulliver-Cleveland takes possession of the enemy’s fleet and deprives them of their strength

President Cleveland, as Gulliver, has a rope labeled “Good Policy” tied to the ships of the “Republican Party,” and pulls them toward the opposite shore where a group of men, including Ambassador Samuel S. Cox, Thomas A. Hendricks, Samuel J. Randall, and Charles A. Dana, wait beneath a banner labeled “Democracy” with the United States Capitol on a hill behind them. On the Republican shore are William M. Evarts, Whitelaw Reid, James G. Blaine, John Logan, and others.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-06-17

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

There’s a new policeman on the beat

Two crooks labeled “Robeson” and “Roach” walk down a sidewalk, whistling. They are being trailed by William C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy, as a policeman. Caption: “Cheese it!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-06-24

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The old partners in the new navy job

John Roach and George M. Robeson, dressed as 16th century soldiers, are performing a song and dance routine on a stage. Roach is holding a paper that states “Contract for new U.S. Cruisers $2,440,000 and ‘Extras!’ Awarded to John Roach.” Caption: When of corruption the public is weary, And the papers have found us out, / Our future then looks dark and dreary, And our profits are involved in doubt / That is the time for disappearing; Just take a header, down you go / But appropriations new are nearing–Bob up serenely from below! –“Olivette” amended.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-07-11

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The recruiting-sergeant and the tough subject

Benjamin F. Butler is a “Recruiting-Sergeant” holding a paper that states “Join the Butler Army OH! – Victory and Spoils in 1884.” He is appealing to a man sitting on a chair, holding a “Southern Vote” in his hands. Caption: The Unrecruited South – “Stranger, I guess you’ll have to count me out of this.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-07-18

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

A new declaration of independence in the year 1885

President Cleveland stands at a table, his right hand on a long document labeled “Declaration of Independence July 4th 1885” that trails off the table, stating “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a President to dissolve the political bands which the machinery of his party has imposed upon him, he must speak in unmistakable words…” He is facing a group of men, one labeled “Tammany” and others labeled “Boss” and “Rural Boss.” They are standing near a passageway labeled “Exit.” Behind Cleveland are members of his cabinet, William C. Whitney, Daniel Manning, Augustus H. Garland, William F. Vilas, L. Q. C. Lamar, and Thomas F. Bayard who is holding a paper that states “The Cabinet ‘Solid’ on Reform.” On the wall in the background is a painting showing the presentation of the “Declaration of Independence July 4th 1776”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-01

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

“Next!”

Inside a “Prison Barber-Shop” are two men labeled “Budensiek” and “J. D. Fish,” wearing prison stripes and “Close Crop” haircuts by the prison barber, who is holding a shaving mug labeled “Ferd. Ward.” Entering on the right is a man labeled “F. Ward” wearing civilian clothing, followed by a prison guard. On the shelves are other shaving mugs labeled “J. D. Fish, Baldwin, [and] Crowley.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-08

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The new leader and the old chorus

John Logan, labeled “New Leader” of the Republican Party, the “party of Reform and Puritee,” holds a paper that states “Logan Speec[h] at Boston July 1885.” He is standing in the street between the White House and the U.S. Treasury, leading a chorus of tramps identified as “J. Gould, Field, Mahone, Roach, Riddleberger, T. Platt, Ex leader [James G. Blaine], Robeson, Keifer, Chandler, Brady, [and] Dorsey,” and an unidentified blind man who looks like Benjamin F. Butler. Some carry battered hand-pails labeled “Empty Hopes.” On the United States Treasury building is a sign, “Notice No Tramps,” and on the White House, where President Cleveland is leaning out a window, is another sign that states “No Tramps Admitted.” Uncle Sam, as a policeman, is leaning against the wall.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-15

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The political Sam’ls of Posen

Print shows a large group of political peddlers trying to sell their goods to Columbia as mistress of the house. Among those shown are Samuel J. Tilden selling “Tribulation Toys”; Benjamin F. Butler with “Elastic Politics” suspenders; Ulysses S. Grant, “306” on his watch chain, with a sack of “War Record” and “Old Clo’s”; Roscoe Conkling with a bag of “Stalwart Stationery”; James Gillespie Blaine offering his card “J. Blaine Fancy Goods” with a bag of “Southern Policy [and] Fancy Notions”; Thomas Hendricks; Chester Alan Arthur; David Davis peddling “D. Davis’s Soap will Scour Both Parties”; Abram S. Hewitt; William Evarts; Allen Granbery Thurman with a sack of “Rag Babies”; John Alexander Logan peddling “Logan Bombast”; Grover Cleveland with a sack of “Clean Shirts”; Thomas F. Bayard peddling “Dodge Salve” and “Bayards No Policy”; John Sherman with “Honest Hosiery”; and Winfield Scott Hancock with “Clean Gloves.” Dashing up in the background are “Johann Kelly & Co., Samuells Randall & Co., [and] Gen. Sherman U.S.A.” Uncle Sam is sitting, in the upper left, with his feet on the railing of the second floor porch. Caption: Columbia – “Not to-day – some other day!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-07-25

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The whitwash is too thin

Print shows George F. Hoar standing in front of a monument that states “To the Eternal Shame of Massachus’tts – Conceived in Corruption Erected in Humanity [?] Tewkesbury”; his hat labeled “Republicans” is under one foot, the other foot in a bucket of whitewash labeled “The Republican Report,” and he is holding a large brush with which he has attempted to cover up the text on the stone. This cartoon refers to disturbing events that took place at the State Almshouse at Tewksbury, Massachusetts, prior to 1883. Caption: The Republicans in Massachusetts make an attempt to cover their iniquity.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-08-01

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896